Fuel Supplies – Availability, Cleanliness & Octane Rating
Availability of petrol can vary considerably from country to country, especially in sparsely populated regions and/or regions where private-ownership of cars is rare or prohibited; as was the case in Albania until not so long ago. In regions where petrol stations are not widespread outside major towns or cities, it would be wise to obtain up to date information in advance about where petrol can be obtained.
https://caravanistan.com/transport/driv ... stan/#fuel
https://caravanistan.com/transport/driv ... ailability
https://caravanistan.com/transport/driv ... n-mongolia
In some of the remote, sparsely-populated areas, petrol might be delivered by hand-operated pumps, from 45 gallon steel drums, rather than from large underground storage tanks at purpose-built filling stations, or even direct from small tanker lorries which periodically visit small rural communities, where people fill up their fuel cans for petrol-driven tuk-tuks, rotovators and other agricultural equipment. I saw such a small tanker lorry in Latvia in 1993; although it was suggested that it might have been carrying paraffin rather than petrol.
Even if petrol is normally readily available, there might be days or times when petrol cannot be purchased, of which weekends and religious days are likely to be typical examples. When touring South Africa in 1980, we discovered that petrol could not be purchased on a Sunday, unless one had a special permit granted by a local justice of the peace.
According to the following publication, the Triumph 1300/1300TC fuel tank had a capacity of 11•75 gallons (53•4 litres), whereas that of the Triumph 1500 had a capacity of 12•5 gallons (56•8 litres) in common with the Triumph Dolomites, which shared the same or very similar body-shell.
John Millward, “Triumph 1300/1500 Car Repair Manual, 1965~1973”, Autodata Ltd., 1980, ISBN 0-85666-049-3
An 11•9% increase of 1•25 gallons in the Toledo’s fuel-tank capacity, from 10•5 gallons (47•7 litres) to 11•75 gallons (53•4 litres), would have usefully increased the car’s maximum range to circa 450 miles, which might just about take me from my present home-town of South Benfleet, Essex, England, to my early-childhood home-town of Dundee, Angus, Scotland, without refuelling on the way!
Note: 1 Imperial pint = 1•76 litres | 1 Imperial gallon = 4•546 litres | 5 litres = 1•09 Imperial gallons
On well surfaced roads, a FWD Triumph 1300 should be capable of a range on a single full-tank of petrol, of at least 400 miles and maybe as much as 450 miles, given overall engine gearing similar to that of my 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 “HL Special”, which could be achieved with 155/80 R13 tyres in combination with a 3•89:1 final-drive ratio or something like 185/65 R15 tyres in combination with a 4•11:1 final-drive ratio; assuming the gearbox ratios are the same.
Quote:
Fit another fuel tank, universal or something that fits, behind the rear seat. The safest place. One bump in the boot floor and you have a leaky tank.
I suspect that it would probably require a hard blow from a very large sharp rock, to perforate the factory-fitted fuel tank in the bottom of the boot, but it might be wise to retro-fit another sturdy skid plate. It’s not clear whether Jeroen is suggesting retro-fitting another fuel tank, behind the rear bench seat in the boot, to supplement the original factory-fitted fuel tank in the bottom of the boot or as a replacement for it!?! He also omitted to mention whether it would require a new separate filler-pipe or share a modified Y-junction filler-pipe with the original factory-fitted fuel tank. A simpler expedient to having an auxiliary fuel tank, might be to carry one or more petrol-cans, of either 5, 10 or 20 litre capacity.
Forum Index > Accessories/Memorabilia/Toys > "Explosafe" Safety Fuel Cans
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=652305
Beyond the boundaries of what’s commonly referred to as the “Western World”, one faces uncertainty about the octane-rating and cleanliness of the available petrol for road vehicles; especially as the labelling of such fuel is NOT universal from one country to another. I think it unlikely that leaded petrol is available anywhere now (partly because of its poisoning effect on catalytic converters), with the possible exception of avgas (i.e. aviation gasoline), but there might be varying proportions of ethanol (i.e. ethyl alcohol) in the petrol blends, of which E10 appears to be increasingly popular.
In Great Britain and probably most if not all European Union countries, petrol is usually classified by RON – Research Octane Number, whilst some other countries might use MON – Motor Octane Number, which would be numerically different for the same petrol-sample. In the Americas, the arithmetic mean value of RON & MON, referred to as RKI, is more typically used.
It’s important to know which of RON, MON or AKI classifications are being used in the various countries through which one is travelling and also how to distinguish between petrol, diesel (aka gas-oil) and paraffin (aka kerosene), so compile a list of the words for these in the various languages and learn how to pronounce them; especially the ones for petrol. For starters, the three types of fuel smell somewhat different; which is something that is difficult to describe in words, so you will just have to train your noses. Petrol feels more like a spirit and evaporates quite quickly, but diesel and paraffin are quite oily.
Various octane grades of petrol are commonly referred to as being regular, premium or super (in whatever language is applicable), in order of increasing octane-rating, but in terms of their numerical RON, MON or AKI ratings which are more indicative of their suitability for one’s vehicle, these can vary significantly from one country to another, to the extent that regular grade petrol in one country could have a higher octane rating than super grade petrol in another country!
“Global Octane Market Continues to Be Dominated by Regular Gasoline Grades”, Stratas Advisors, 8th October 2019
https://stratasadvisors.com/Insights/20 ... rket-Share
« Octane is regulated in various regions and countries using different approaches. Many countries establish minimum RON and MON levels for gasoline, whereas AKI is typically used in the Americas. Generally, it is required that refuelling pumps indicate the octane level being sold as vehicle technologies require different octane and one or more grades can be found at the pump. »
« Notably across the world, current gasoline octane grades range widely from RON 80 to RON 110, or AKI 81 to 91 in the Americas. Several countries have two or more grades available on their markets, while a number of African countries have only one gasoline grade on their markets including Nigeria (RON 91), Libya (RON 95), etc. As of 2019, Indonesia has the highest number of gasoline grades on its market with a total of six grades of RON 88, 90, 92, 95, 98 and 100. In addition, four countries including Iraq, Peru, Philippines and Russia have as many as five gasoline grades on each of their markets. Furthermore, countries such as China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Paraguay and Ukraine have four gasoline grades available on their markets. »
« Generally, it is observed across the world that regular grades have an octane rating ranging from RON 80 to RON 97 (or AKI 81 to 87), while premium grades have an octane rating ranging from RON 90 to RON 110 (or AKI 87 to 91). For example, the regular grade in Europe is RON 95, while in the CIS, it ranges from RON 80 to 95. »
For at least two transcontinental travellers of which I am aware, this or other sources of confusion, led to their engines rapidly sustaining serious damage within less than a few hundred miles, requiring a major strip-down & rebuild with new components, owing to severe detonation (i.e. pinking, pinging, knock or spark-knock), which is not always audible.
Given that the FWD Triumph 1300/1300TC high-compression engines (8•5:1 or 9•0:1 compression ratios) were designed to run on 4-star RON 97 petrol, filling up with RON 90 petrol or even RON 80 petrol, could have devastating consequences, so one needs to be very careful to ensure that one is obtaining petrol of an appropriate octane rating or use an octane-booster additive. Noting that regular grade petrol seems to be the most popular, RON 97 or higher-octane petrol might not be so readily available.
Possible confusion re octane ratings, was something of which I had to be particularly careful, driving during the mid-1980s in Eastern Europe, behind the “Iron Curtain” (where low-octane petrol was common, for cars with two-stroke engines, such as the Serena, Wartburg & Trabant), in the 1973 VW 1600 Type 2 motor-caravan (VW Type 1 style air-cooled engine | 1584 cm³ displacement | 50 DIN horsepower | 7•5:1 compression ratio), for which a minimum octane rating of RON 91 was specified and would happily run on 2-star RON 92 petrol. Many 1960s vintage, VW Type 1 style air-cooled engines, were of even lower compression ratio, for which a minimum octane rating of RON 87 was specified.
The 1973 VW Type 2’s substitute engine (VW Type 4 style air-cooled engine | 1911 cm³ displacement | 90+ DIN horsepower | 8•0:1 compression ratio) should run happily on RON 95 petrol, and might even cope with petrol of lower octane-rating, owing to enhanced combustion-chamber turbulence, attributable to reduced piston deck-height (i.e. squish-height) clearance, as recommended for modified high-performance engines; although I would want to retro-fit some form of detonation detection & warning system before I consider doing so.
Performance / Engines / Transmissions > Engine-knock warning and/or avoidance devices
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewt ... p?t=280438
Bay Window Bus > Detection & avoidance of detonation and/or pre-ignition
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=280812
There is also the possibility in some regions, where the procedures are more lax, and consequent mistakes more common, that petrol-station fuel-pump labels, might not always correspond to what is in the tanks or drums!
Dealing with the possibility of filling up with low-octane petrol, is not the only hazard! In some regions, there is likely to be significant risk of petrol being contaminated with water and/or solid debris, such as flakes or granules of rust. It is recommended that when filling the petrol tank and/or cans, that the fuel be strained using a filler funnel with a gauze mesh that can later be back-flushed if needed. Retro-fitting a transparent, in-line fuel-filter housing with an easily replaceable filter-element and a transparent, in-line fuel-water separator, with the facility to drain off the water, would also be advisable.
Fuel filters are available in a variety of different forms. The simplest & cheapest fuel filters, that are most commonly available at car accessory shops, involve simply pushing on the flexible fuel hoses and fastening with hose clamps. They have a relatively small filtration area and a limited capacity for retaining solid contaminants. The risk of damaging the fuel hoses, when removing such a fuel filter, is a further disadvantage, especially if filter replacement becomes necessary on route. Some fuel filters are connected to the fuel pipes or hoses by means of screw-on banjo fittings.
I am inclined to favour fuel filters of a type that are permanently plumbed into the fuel system, which have an easily replaceable filter element. These could take the form of a screw-on cartridge (similar to an oil filter) or a removable bowl with a replaceable filter element. A transparent removable bowl would allow one to inspect how much solid contaminant has accumulated.
https://inlinefilters.co.uk/Filters-Fuel/?
https://inlinefilters.co.uk/Filters-Fue ... 3754&pag=1
https://inlinefilters.co.uk/Filters-Fue ... 3864&pag=1
https://inlinefilters.co.uk/Filters-Fue ... 3717&pag=1
Some filters, commonly employed with diesel engines, have the facility to drain off water by means of a drain-cock.
Tim Rhodes, “Best Fuel Water Separator Filters And Their Reviews For 2022”, The Water Nerd, 1st September 2022
https://thewaternerd.com/fuel-water-separator-filter/
Register
Login
FAQ
Search
